Francia Raisa Interview
By: Harmony Wheeler |
Tuesday June 17, 2008 |
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"I've loved every character I've played so far and I think it is because there is a little bit of me in every one of them." |
| Photography: Dimitry Loiseau/ DimitryL.com Hair&Make-up: Valerie Noble/ ValerieNoble.com Francia Raisa made her way into the entertainment business through print and commercial work, but she has quickly made her way up. She starred opposite Hayden Panettiere in Bring It On: All or Nothing and recently played the leading female role in The Cutting Edge 3: Chasing the Dream. She has also starred in Nickelodeon's Shredderman Rules and in the movie Underground. Now, she has begun work on her first TV series in The Secret Life of the American Teenager, which premieres July 1 on ABC family. The series takes a look at the relationship between teenagers. Raisa says that, as a young actress recently out of high school, American Teenager "hits really close to home." In an interview with Static, Raisa talks about her role in the show, her love of acting, and the challenges she has faced as an actress. How did you get started in the business? What is it you enjoy most about acting? It was not until I was about 16 that I found a way to get into it. I have always wanted to be in it but I just did not know how. I met these two girls when I was a backup dancer for an artist and we got to talking. They were telling me how they were in commercials and videos and on recurring shows and I was like, "I want to do that, how do I get into that?" They told me they had a manager who introduced them to their agent and sent them out on auditions. So I asked to meet her and we did and we hit it off and I signed with her right away. Soon after I started auditioning, I started booking print jobs and commercials. I guest-starred in a show and then booked "Bring it on 3: All or Nothing." What I enjoy most about acting? Well, I love the camera, that is a given. But I also love playing other characters. It is so crazy how much you learn about yourself when you're playing someone else. I love the process of having someone imaginary in my head and bringing her to life. It is like art, it's my way of art. Are there specific types of characters you enjoy playing more than others? How much of your own personality do you include in your acting? I've loved every character I've played so far and I think it is because there is a little bit of me in every one of them, so I do incorporate a little bit of my personality. It's so funny but every character I've played, as soon as I read the script for the first time I ask myself, "Why does she remind me of me so much?" It happens every time and hasn't failed yet. How do you decide whether or not to take a role? I have to have some type of love or passion for the role and the script in order to do it. It really has to mean something to me or know it will to my fans. I really want to play roles that my fans will appreciate and learn from. What is the casting process like? I personally hate it. Thankfully, it's not that bad when the casting director is nice and understands. They try and make the process as easy as possible because it is nerve-wrecking and it can kill your confidence sometimes. But then you get those few casting directors that are bored and really don't care to see anyone and that's when it's even more nerve-wrecking. I try to not let it get to me, but it's not easy, especially when you really love the role. There is so much to it all. What goes through your mind while you're waiting to hear whether you got a part? My intuitions are pretty good and I trust them a lot so I pretty much know myself personally right after. But questions still go through my head and I work myself up a lot and I stare at my phone every minute of the day waiting for my agent to call. Or I call a lot when I know I got it and I just want to hear the final yes to reassure myself. I'll even picture myself on the set already. You've done a couple of roles that involve a lot of physical training, such as in Bring it On and in The Cutting Edge 3. What do roles like these require of you as an actress? How much of the cheerleading and skating do you actually do? Roles like these require a lot of rehearsal before shooting which I personally enjoy because it's free and I get a nice workout out of it! {laughs} I did all of the cheerleading and half of the skating. When I did the ice-skating, I only did the parts that actually required my feet to be on the ice. I did not do all those fancy stunts that you saw in the movie. I wouldn't have the nerve to, especially with blades on my feet. Do you have past experience in cheerleading or skating? I do have past experience in both actually. I was a cheerleader in high school- I was actually a flyer which I really miss doing. Also, I ice-skated when I was 11 for about a year so it was pretty easy for me to pick up the simple stuff again and I learned the mechanics of the tough jumps that you see. Now, I'd love to do a dance movie in the future since I am also a trained dancer. Your new TV series The Secret Life of the American Teenager deals with a lot of real life issues, such as teen pregnancy. Tell me about the show and how you hope audiences will react. Well, yes. Like you said, the show is about dealing with teen pregnancy and the relationship between teenagers. I hope the audience reacts in a positive way and realizes that these are real life issues and don't get offended by it. High school wasn't that long ago for me and I can tell you it hits really close to home. What is your role in The Secret Life of the American Teenager? I play Adrian Lee. I guess you can see her as the "hot girl" in school. She is very confident in herself- and talks and walks like it. But at the same time, she is really lonely and feels like no one really loves her because she has no friends. A guy that is supposed to care for her does not, and though she knows it-she does not want to see it. Her parents are never around so all she wants to do is be with guys to fill the void. How do you feel about moving into a regular TV series verses doing movie work? I love it. It's my first time doing it and I absolutely love it. I had never been on a set before. Usually we are on location, so this is all new to me and its blows my mind how real everything looks on camera. I love having a different story every week and not knowing what is going on but trying to guess when I'm working on my character. What is it like filming a series compared to filming a movie? It's different, especially because you have a different director for every episode and I'm not used to that. Honestly the best part about it is you know you're going back to work every week on a series and in a movie you know you're done in a certain chunk of time. I noticed that an article on your website said you've done some commercial and print work. What's that like? Print work is funny. You have to act like you're having such a good time with your best friends and they're actually strangers that you met an hour prior to shooting. You always have to be laughing and smiling but ironically, nothing is funny. Commercials are fun, you do so much work for them and they literally last a minute on TV. So all the work you did is usually not even in there. But it is fun, I like it. Like I've said before, I love the camera... so I love taking pictures. I hope to do more print and commercial work in the future. Has it been difficult acting at such a young age? How has acting affected your social life? Academics? No, not at all. I think I got into acting at the perfect age because I was more aware of my surroundings so it was easy for me not to get caught up. I started towards the end of my junior year and that was probably the toughest time because I went to a private school and they didn't believe in missing school to work in the business. So let's just says I had a lot of sick days... {laughs} I almost lost my junior year credits for being absent so much but I got an appeal and received them. After that, I went to a public high school for my senior year because I knew they would be more lenient. I ended up testing out and getting my diploma a month into my senior year because I booked "Bring it On 3--" which was cool, I was already feeling the senioritis anyway. I didn't want to go to college because I wanted to act and I would much rather go to acting school. But as far as my social life went, it was affected because my friends didn't understand what I was doing or what I was trying to do with my future. I actually lost a lot of friends in the process because we were so young, but now that we are older they understand more and we've rekindled our friendship. What kind of reactions have you gotten from your fans? It's all been positive. They're always asking me what I have coming up. They're also always telling me how I inspire them in some way, which is actually my favorite part of this job. It's nice having my fans tell me I was an inspiration. Where do you see yourself in the future? I see myself doing what I love to do and again, being an inspiration to others. Viewers can see more of Francia Raisa on The Secret Life of the American Teenager. You can find more information on the ABC Family Show website. |
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